Zimbabwe Seven

Atlantic - In Memory 2004 - 2008

Atlantic was born on 31 December 2004, to Starsky and Hooch. He was from a litter of three males. His two siblings were named Africa and Kenya. Hooch is an amazing mother and this litter, which was her third, was not any different. She approached yet another motherhood experience with complete dedication. Where I am very fortunate is that Hooch and I have developed a bond which allows me to get involved with the feeding and care of her kittens. A litter of three kittens for an African wild cat is large and I did not want Hooch to dry up or reject her kittens due to lack of milk. So from the point of her giving birth, I interact with her, by feeding her twice a day, close to the kittens. This way Hooch knows that I am not a threat to her kittens and for her kittens to become familiar with my voice and smell.

There were several unusual circumstances surrounding his death:
1.) He was lying on a pathway which is highly suspicious – if a wild animal is sick for any reason it would seek refuge, even if it were dying.
2.) He had been tracked at the enclosure that morning, and his position of death in relation to where he was is a distance of approx 1 – 2 km away. Again, a sick animal would not travel that far.
3.) We suspected a snake bite, but several factors could rule this out. Firstly, at this time of year most snakes are still hibernating (as we are in winter), and even if they were out they would be sluggish due to the cold weather. There were also no marks on his body to indicate a bite or struggle of any kind.

This left us to draw a very nauseating conclusion: was he poisoned?

Atlantic’s body was brought to the Wildlife Veterinary Unit the following day (1st July 2008) and Dr. Chris Foggin performed a post mortem, whilst Ellen observed. Atlantic was physically in good condition for a four year old cat who had been released, apart from a mild tapeworm infestation (entirely normal in a wild felid under these circumstances). Through his previous experience, the only conclusion that Dr. Foggin could draw was that this was a case of poisoning. Unfortunately in Zimbabwe we do not have the available equipment or technology to determine exactly what chemical was used.